Turkish court orders partial lifting of YouTube ban

ANKARA

YouTube logos displayed on a laptop screen partially covered with Turkey's national flag in this photo illustration taken in Ankara March 27, 2014.

Reuters/Umit Bektas/Files

ANKARA A Turkish court on Friday ruled that a blanket ban of social-media website YouTube violated human rights and ordered most of the restrictions be lifted, citing a top court ruling this week that scrapped a similar ban on microblogging site Twitter.

The state telecoms authority on March 27 blocked access to YouTube, Google's (GOOG.O) video-sharing site, after anonymously leaked audio recordings appeared there purportedly of senior officials discussing a possible attack on Syria ahead of an election.

Access to Twitter (TWTR.N) had been similiarly barred until the Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that violated the law. The court in the capital Ankara said the YouTube ban was too broad and instead specifically blocked access to 15 videos, a copy of the court document showed.